A Democrat insider admits the real reason Kamala Harris never sat down with Joe Rogan is because it would’ve upset her progressive staffers.
Donald Trump’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience – sparked by Rogan wanting Trump to appear after he’d survived an assassination attempt – was a huge hit and has been credited for his ability to win over young voters.
When Rogan asked Kamala Harris to join him on the podcast, he revealed she ‘only wanted to do an hour,’ ultimately refusing to appear over scheduling conflicts.
Jennifer Palmieri, a liberal strategist and former senior advisor to Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff, said it would’ve upset her far left campaign workers.
‘There was a backlash with some of our progressive staff that didn’t want her to be on it, and how there would be a backlash,’ she said.
Meanwhile, Rogan is continuing to comment on the controversy himself, revealing things Harris refused to discuss.
‘They had, I don’t know how many conversations with my folks, but multiple conversations giving different dates, different times, different this, different that, and we knew that she was going to be in Texas, so I said, ‘open invitation,” he said.
‘I think they had requirements on things that she didn’t want to talk about, she didn’t want to talk about marijuana legalization, which I thought was hilarious.’
On November 3, Harris posted to X: ‘I will legalize recreational marijuana, break down unjust legal barriers, and create opportunities for all Americans to succeed in this new industry.’
During a 2020 discussion with comedian Jimmy Dore on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said he had ‘always been’ a progressive voter.
He told Dore: ‘I’ve never voted right wing in my life. Never. Never. I voted Democrat.’
However, Sanders’ appearance on the show drew huge backlash from Democrats and appears to have kept the podcast as a no-go zone for liberals.
Palmieri also blamed the media’s coverage over the negotiations for creating a ‘weird dynamic.’
‘Because all of a sudden he’s on his heels about how his audience is going to react to this, and the demands that they were going to put on him to be tough on her,’ she told Financial Times.
The snub is now clearly seen as a key element of Harris’ flop campaign, losing access to Rogan’s massive listenership.
Rogan specifically mentioned his fondness for Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard – as she was a Democrat before endorsing Donald Trump – but he did point out the one exception to his pattern.
He said: ‘Except for [voting] Independent. I voted for Gary Johnson because he did my podcast.’
This one-off comment points to why Harris refusing to be on Rogan’s show may have cost her his vote and – even more influential – his endorsement.
During the Rogan-Dore episode, Dore mentioned an unnamed senior Democrat who would not go on his podcast because their ‘career would be over.’ Rogan guessed he was referring to Harris.
Dore laughed, but neither confirmed nor denied the claim.
Rogan chimed in and said, ‘They all keep asking to be on my show, I’ve got requests from all of them.’
The podcaster listed off Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and ‘Mayor Pete’ Buttigieg as some of the top politicians who have requested to come on his show, but he turned them down.
Rogan, who previously was vocal about disliking Donald Trump, seemingly made a 180-degree turn by endorsing the candidate just before the presidential election.
Speaking with the presidential nominee in a wide-ranging interview, Rogan referenced Trump’s interview with fellow comedian Theo Von in August of this year.
Trump asked: ‘Is that why you called me to do this’, to which Rogan responded: ‘No. Once they shot you I was like, ‘He’s gotta come in here.”
Rogan replies: ‘It healed up pretty f***ing good man’, to which Trump said it wasn’t like UFC fighters that Rogan also provides color commentary for.
Trump told Rogan that the attempt on his life and the scarring had made him a ‘tougher guy’.
Showing off the wound he received when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on him in July of this year, Trump said: ‘It zicked right there.’
The podcaster asserted in 2022: ‘I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form.
‘I don’t want to help him, I’m not interested in helping him.’
Two years later, Rogan’s views took a shocking turn when he welcomed the Republican nominee on his show after rampant speculation from fans.
He publicly endorsed the soon-to-be president after a discussion with Elon Musk.
‘If it wasn’t for him (Musk) we’d be f***ed,’ Rogan wrote on X just hours before the polls open.
‘He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.
‘For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump. Enjoy the podcast’.
He sat with Trump for a three-hour interview and tried to do the same with Harris.
But Rogan revealed that scheduling issues and conflicts over how long and where the interview would take place ultimately prevented it from happening.
He explained he hoped to use the interview as a means of getting to know the candidates better.
Rogan said: ‘My whole goal with her and with him is just talk. Just have a conversation like a human being. You find out things about people. You get a sense of them, at least.’
The Joe Rogan Experience is the most popular Spotify podcast, with more than 14 million subscribers. Rogan also has nearly 18 million YouTube followers, and his videos routinely receive millions of views.
An unidentified Arizona State University student told MSNBC’s Gadi Schwartz that the VP’s refusal to appear on the popular show ended up deciding his vote.
‘We’ve actually been hearing a lot of talk about the Rogan podcast,’ Schwartz said. ‘A little while ago we were talking to two guys.
‘One of them said he was on the fence, when Kamala did not go on the Joe Rogan podcast that was what influenced his vote, he ended up voting for Trump.
‘He said he was open to listening to Kamala on the podcast and when she didn’t, not necessarily all the issues. She didn’t seem like a real person because she couldn’t talk for an extended period of time. ‘